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US 7,730,838 B1Granted
Buoyancy dissipater and method to deter an errant vessel
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorsJames H. Dupont, William N. Patterson, Richard D. Loehr
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Embodiments of a buoyancy dissipater and method for deterring a vessel are generally described herein. In some embodiments, a volume of gas is generated from a propellant and diffused below a waterline of a vessel. The resulting gas bubble dissipates the buoyancy of the vessel providing a non-lethal deterring effect.
Claims15
A buoyancy dissipater comprising:
- propellant;
- a gas generator to generate a volume of gas from the propellant;
- a diffuser having diffusion ports to radially diffuse the gas generated by the gas generator below a waterline of a vessel to dissipate buoyancy of the vessel;
- propellant charge-size control circuitry to control a propellant charge size to change an amount of the propellant that is to be ignited to vary an amount of gas to be generated by the gas generator.
1 more element
A buoyancy dissipater comprising:
- propellant;
- a fuze to initiate detonation of the propellant;
- a gas generator to generate a volume of gas from the propellant;
- a diffuser to diffuse the gas generated by the gas generator below a waterline of a vessel to dissipate buoyancy of the vessel;
- fuze circuitry responsive to the fuze;
- control circuitry to provide an ignition signal to an igniter for igniting the propellant in response to an indication from the fuze circuitry;
- a charge size selector to allow selection of a propellant charge size by a user;
- and
- a propellant control element responsive to the selection of the propellant charge size to control an amount of propellant to be ignited,
- wherein the selection of the propellant charge size varies the volume of the gas that is generated.
7 more elements
An errant-vessel deterring apparatus comprising:
- a gas generator including an igniter to ignite a propellant to generate a volume of gas;
- a diffuser comprising a plurality of diffusion ports to diffuse the volume of gas below a waterline of a vessel to dissipate buoyancy of the vessel;
- a pressure cylinder to provide a region within the buoyancy dissipater to allow the propellant to burn and expand after ignition;
- ballast to maintain the buoyancy dissipater below the waterline;
- a fuze to initiate detonation of the propellant;
- a delivery shell to contain the gas generator, the diffuser, the pressure cylinder, the ballast and the fuze;
- and
- propellant charge-size selection control circuitry to allow a propellant charge size to be selectable by a user based on a size estimate of the vessel,
- wherein the delivery shell is gun-launched toward the vessel, and wherein the fuze initiates detonation upon impact of the delivery shell with the waterline for detonation of the propellant after a predetermined period of time or upon detection of the vessel.
6 more elements
A method for deterring a vessel with a buoyancy dissipater, the method comprising:
- selecting a propellant charge size based on a size estimate of the vessel;
- initiating a rapid generation of gas by igniting a propellant;
- and
- radially diffusing the gas below a waterline of the vessel to generate a gas bubble to dissipate the buoyancy of the vessel,
- wherein selecting the propellant charge size varies a volume of the gas that is generated.
2 more elements
A method for deterring a vessel with a buoyancy dissipater, the method comprising:
- launching a delivery shell from above a waterline of the vessel, the buoyancy dissipater to travel below the waterline toward the vessel;
- initiating detonation upon impact of the delivery shell with the waterline;
- igniting a propellant after a predetermined period of time after impact with the waterline or upon detection of the vessel to initiate a rapid generation of gas;
- diffusing the gas below the waterline of the vessel to generate a gas bubble to dissipate buoyancy of the vessel;
- and
- providing for user selection of a propellant charge size based on a size estimate of the vessel, wherein the selection of the propellant charge size varies a volume of the gas that is generated.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.